This musical written more than 50 years ago was Richard Rodgers' favourite among all his triumphs. Set in another century there is no reason why it should not succeed for the next 50 years. The fact it has collected 18 awards in New York and London highlights its stage pedigree.

What we now have is a new production which – with a break for panto – will tour until May. And if the cast can continue with the same enthusiasm a box office success is assured.

If I pretended to understand fully how the allocation of performing rights are, er, allocated, I would be, well, pretending. But it seems to me we might be better served if producers Martin Dodd and Peter Frosdick of UK Productions got out of the way and let others get on with the job. Foisting soap "stars" on us in roles for which they are ill-equipped as young talented folk run about daft covering their deficiencies is scarcely the best way to preserve a show.

Brilliant though it is, Carousel, with its antihero Billy Bigelow and its tragic story, is a dark piece despite its uplifting "you'll never walk alone" ending. The show has been successfully revived in London and New York in recent years, but in Australia, where the market is so much smaller, Carousel was just too heavy to reach a broad enough audience to sustain a run. Commercial producers have therefore steered clear. Until now.

By LINDA EISENSTEIN Special to The Plain Cleveland Dealer May 26, 2004

Kalliope Stage is presenting an affecting vest-pocket version of "Carousel" in its pint-size space at Cedar and Lee roads in Cleveland Heights. The miniaturization has its drawbacks, but Paul F. Gurgol's mounting of the classic show gives you a good sense of what this new musical theater is about.

‘Carousel’ Full Of Lively Dance, Nostalgic Songs By F.C. Lowe for The Winchester Star

A blast from the past roared onto the stage at the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre Wednesday as the musical, “Carousel” opened.

The small town atmosphere prevailed as the carnival — a mainstay in those bygone summer days with carousels, side shows, barkers, and pretty ladies — beckoned to those who work tedious jobs in the mills.

This particular town is a coastal village in Maine and the story took place toward the end of the last century.

It all takes us back to an era when dance, music and words worked towards the same end. The best example is June Is Bustin' Out All Over, which is nothing more than a fertility rite. It's all there in Hammerstein's lyrics, which tell us that "the rams that love the ewe-sheep are determined there'll be new sheep". Javier de Frutos's choreography ripples with sexuality as burly fishermen sensuously entwine with their partners.

This revival by Angus Jackson avoids an overdose of saccharine, but it lacks conviction. That’s not the fault of Harriet Shore’s appealing Julie Jordan, who has just the trusting “little kid face” that the brooding carousel barker Billy Bigelow describes, nor of Norman Bowman in that role.

There isn't a weak link in the cast. Lydia Griffiths and Robert Irons are a delight as the contrasting, amusingly conventional secondary leads. And with the current heatwave and Jacqui Dubois in ebullient voice as Nettie Fowler, it's almost an understatement to say that "June is Bustin' Out All Over" at Chichester.

I usually try to avoid the boring compare-and-contrast school of criticism but Nicholas Hytner's superb production at the National Theatre in 1992 is still so fresh in my memory that I can't help myself. Angus Jackson's staging at Chichester isn't in the same league, and in particular, Javier De Frutos's choreography isn't a patch on the stunning work of Kenneth MacMillan, who died just as he was completing his contribution to Carousel at the National.

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